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I'm sure there is some truth

I'm sure there is some truth to most of what everyone is saying. However, nobody ever seems to know the whole truth, only bits and pieces of it. I can't tell you how many times and people I've met who seem to brag about how cheap they can get something serviced. I believe the people who do simple maintenance, buy the parts themselves, and do it right! However, we all know that most of the maintenance these days cannot be done by the car owners. Unless you own and run your own repair shop or are good friends with the owner of one, you simply can't fix many of the problems with cars. The people who fix cars and make cars want to keep it this way and they will always charge you more over time. So don't sweet the details!! Treat your car as good as you can, hybrid or conventional, and don't use it as much as possible. When you encounter the first major non-regular maintenance costs, trade in the car then or buy your hybrid then. Don't try to estimate the costs versus savings of switching to a hybrid right away. Just use your current car as long as possible. When you finally do buy a hybrid, do the same. There will always be some unforseen maintenance that is very costly, no matter what people say. You will always be stuck with the decision of taking up huge maintenance costs or buying a new expensive car, to maximize the time period before the next slew of non-regular huge maintenance costs (when a car goes over the hill but can still last for many years - providing certain very expensive replacements are done, etc.) This is a problem you can never avoid. Even if you own a shop and use its equipment to maintain your car and don't charge yourself, you still need to buy replacement parts!! You cannot change the greedy ways and tyranny of the car industry, or any industry in which electronics of any sort is involved. Products used to be made reliable and long lasting. The long lasting part was very unprofitable. So when something finally needed replacement, it was too expensive. Consumers are always forced into a choice of spending a lot to maintain something, and they usually choose to simply buy another product. Manufacturers have taken advantage of this consumer tendency and realize that it is even more profitable to make products just reliable enough to not blatantly look unreliable. With shorter life of product, they can sell more product, as is the case with cars. All electronic products can breakdown and nobody can be held accountable for why if it doesn't last as long as presribed. You can either accept this or do something about it. I don't know if there is a way you can rally consumers behavior to fight this problem or you can choose to avoid cars as much as possible. Try not to be a loner. Make friends. Carpool. Take public transportation if possible. Don't waste your life on the road, stuck in traffic, doing countless errands, etc. Move closer to work to reduce commute times. Figure out when traffic is most in your local area and don't drive during those times. Enjoy all the possibilities and alternatives of life without a car. Only use cars to the extent that you have to. Intrincisally, they and anything related to them (repair shops, tires, oil, dealers, car insurance) are evil !!!!

We have had a hybrid Escape

We have had a hybrid Escape for three years, and in the same period have owned a non-hybrid 10 year-old 4-cylinder Ranger so this can give you a sample size n=1 kind of analysis.
--The Escape has needed less maintenance since it requires fewer oil changes (due to the oil type and the lower stress on the engine, supposedly). BTW this is also an environmental benefit. Our dealer and the Ford hybrid people say the vehicle will also have far less stress on the front brakes, the battery, etc. (although theRanger has never needed a battery change and we just replaced the front brak pads last year). We drive both cars very conservatively, and we maintain them by the book.
--Because hybrids are new cars, you may want to consider the extended warranty just in case. We have not had a single problem with our Escape in three years -- not one.
--Some componenets on any hybrid, like the transaxle assembly, are very expensive to fix so use reasonable driving habits (this makes me very dubious about things like taking the car out of gear while coasting down hills, etc.).
--Our state (Colorado) and Federal rebates came within $300 of paying for the extra cost of the hybrid package. Not all hybrid vehicles qualify for these rebates, though.
--Predicting maintenance costs is difficult to to in general and impossible to do for you. Good luck with your decision. We have not regretted our hybrid since we bought it.

A car maintenance costs are

A car maintenance costs are high to any car, no matter it is an ordinary one or hybrid. A way to reduce your cost is to buy everything you need for your car direct from the companies selling the producer price. Every time when my car is broken I replace Volkswagen Parts from a dealer that sells at decent prices. I like this method because I can save some money.